Lobster Divers Kick Off Frenzied Two-day Season

By the time this newspaper hit doorsteps around South Florida, divers already were pulling spiny lobsters out of their niches on the ocean floor.

Sunrise dives? Forget it. The diehards were in the water at 12:01 a.m.

Consider this a lesson about the fervor that surrounds the two-day lobster mini-season that opened today.

Matt Stout, co-owner of Underseas Sports, a Fort Lauderdale dive shop, planned to be on the water when the magic hour struck. With boat charters, divers picking up new equipment and the constant tank refills, he figures this will be one of the best weekends of the year for business.

``It just seems to get bigger every year,`` he said.

But more divers and more hype lead to more problems. Which in turn may make this the last mini-season.

Already, some civic officials in the Florida Keys are crying ``enough.`` They have asked the Florida Marine Fisheries Commission to eliminate the two-day season because of overcrowding, traffic snarls, rowdyism and environmental damage.

The commission is considering the idea as part of a total review of the rules regulating lobstering.

Even though the regular lobster season lasts nearly eight months, the mania seems focused on the two-day mini-season. It offers recreational divers a first shot at the crustaceans, before commercial lobsterers can drop their traps on Aug. 1.

Last year, the state issued 116,696 licenses for lobster. Forty percent -- 48,760 -- were sold in the four weeks leading up to mini-season.

``It`s like the Indianapolis 500, or the Kentucky Derby,`` said Lee Schlesinger, spokesman for the fisheries commission. ``It`s an event.``

Critics say the season has become too much of an event.

Larry Rubin, president of the environmental group Ocean Watch, said the toll in dead coral and injured divers may not be worth it. ``Personally, I`d just as soon see the mini-season go away.``

The problems are myriad. The rush to be first can cause carelessness: Divers who forget safety precautions or accidentally lie on fragile live coral, boaters who sail recklessly or scrape anchors across the reefs.

``You`ve got a lot of inexperienced divers, or maybe divers who haven`t been out in a year,`` said Capt. Sam Cory of the Florida Marine Patrol. The Marine Patrol will call all available officers on duty.

By late this afternoon, some of the results will be known: Hundreds of lucky divers will be melting butter and getting ready for dinner. A few others will be ruefully pondering their arrests, maybe even the seizure of their equipment.

Tomorrow morning, it will start all over again.

IF YOU GO

Rules if you go diving for lobster during this weekend`s mini-season:

-- LICENSE: Divers are required to buy a state saltwater fishing license, plus a special lobster stamp.

-- SIZE: Only lobsters with a hard shell of more than 3 inches can be taken. Divers must have a measuring gauge with them.

-- LIMIT: Six per day.

-- RULES: Lobsters cannot be speared, crushed or hooked. Divers cannot take egg-bearing lobsters, nor can they attempt to wipe off the eggs to make a captured lobster appear legal. Divers cannot wring off a lobster`s tail until they return to shore.

-- SAFETY: It should come first. Divers should carefully plan their dive to avoid danger; boaters should be alert for diver-down flags.